Evacuations in Zaporizhzhia renew concerns over nuclear plant safety

The United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog has raised concerns over the safety of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, describing the situation as “increasingly unpredictable” after Russia ordered the evacuation of residents from areas occupied by its army near the installation.

More than 1,600 people, including 660 children, have been evacuated from towns held on the front lines in Zaporizhzhia, said on Monday (8) Yevgeniy Balitskiy, acting head of the administration of the region, appointed by Russia.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is maintained by Russian forces but mainly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.

The town of Enerhodar was among 18 settlements whose residents were evacuated over the weekend. Most of the plant’s employees live in the city, said the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, in a statement.

Grossi said he was deeply concerned about “increasingly tense, stressful and challenging conditions” for employees, their families and “the very real safety and nuclear protection risks faced by the plant”.

“We must act now to prevent the threat of a serious nuclear accident and its consequences for the population and the environment,” he warned.

The evacuation of the city comes amid rumors of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, with the southern region likely to be one of the main targets as Kiev tries to stop an invasion of Moscow.

Site director Yuri Chernichuk noted that the operational team is not being withdrawn and “is doing everything necessary to ensure nuclear safety at the plant”.

Chernichuk stated that the nuclear plant’s six reactors are shut down and their equipment is being maintained, “in accordance with all necessary nuclear safety and security regulations”, according to Grossi.

The plant’s front-line position – located on the east bank of the Dnipro River – means that shelling in neighboring towns and close to the facility is common, according to local reports.

The facility has been frequently disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid due to heavy Russian bombing in the area, raising fears of a nuclear accident across Europe.

The plant is also important because Ukraine is heavily reliant on nuclear energy. Without it, Ukraine would lose 20% of its domestic electricity generation capacity. Analysts said Russia would like to capture the plant intact, hoping to serve its own electricity market.

The IAEA said experts on the ground continue to hear of bombings regularly.

Claims of Russian soldiers evacuating as civilians

The evacuations in Zaporizhzhia, which began on Friday (5), were a “necessary measure” due to the “intensified shelling of settlements” near the front line, said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed interim governor of the partially occupied region.

Local channels on Telegram reported evacuation buses and officials telling residents to pack their bags and get their children out of kindergartens.

Residents, including schoolchildren, were being placed in temporary accommodation, Balitskiy said. He stated that the evacuees “have everything they need: food, a place to sleep, constant contact and consultation with specialists”.

Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of using the action as a means of forcibly deporting Ukrainians. Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, told local media that the evacuations were “an imitation of care for local residents”.

She further noted that this was standard practice that would have previously been used by the Russians.

“They are trying to evacuate people to the places where they have set up their own defense lines and where they are establishing their units to use local civilians as cover,” he said.

This speech comes after the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that Russian soldiers are trying to leave Zaporizhzhia disguised as civilians.

“There are soldiers trying to escape from temporarily occupied territories,” Fedorov warned in an interview with Ukrainian media on Sunday (7).

“Our residents report some cases of Russian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. One of the purposes why they do this is to get away from temporarily occupied territory,” he pointed out.

However, Fedorov also said that Russian troops “are moving more and more to the front lines of Zaporizhzhia”.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials reported on Sunday (7) that Russian forces continued to bomb the region, but without casualties in the last 24 hours.

air strikes

On Sunday (7), the spokeswoman for Operation Ukraine Southern Command said that Russian forces were trying to deplete Ukraine’s air defense system.

“They are trying to find a way around it. And they are also expanding their tactics, because they don’t have a stable stock of means with which they can operate”, pondered Humeniuk, adding that the Russians are also trying to “test and find out where the air defense systems are located”.

Earlier on Monday, five people were injured in Kiev after drone strikes in districts of the Ukrainian capital overnight, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the Military Administration of the City of Kiev.

In the south, Russia launched eight missiles at the port city of Odessa overnight on Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Attacks were also recorded in Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, according to Ukraine’s military.

Bakhmut Offensive

In the east of the country, the head of the mercenary group Wagner said that his troops had advanced on the city of Bakhmut.

Yevgeny Prigozhin reported that his forces had advanced in “different directions so far”. He also hinted that his forces would remain in Bakhmut after Russia’s Defense Ministry promised to provide more ammunition, apparently pulling back in a threat of withdrawal.

Bakhmut has been the target of an offensive by Russian forces that has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated.

But despite the vast amount of manpower and resources that Russia had deployed to capture Bakhmut, Moscow forces suffered heavy casualties and were unable to take full control of the city.

*Maria Kostenko, Josh Pennington, Olga Voitovych and Tim Lister, from CNN contributed to the report